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>> Saturday, 16 August 2008

Roast breadfruit - have it once and you'll keep coming back for more. It's that good. No kidding. Last year, I introduced you to a backyard discovery, breadfruit. I mentioned then about my introduction to a good ole time Bajan (Barbadian) delicacy, roast breadfruit. Alas, it is a dying art to make this dish, but not if I have anything to do with it! I searched high and low for someone to show me how to roast the breadfruit and after more than a year of searching, I found someone. You can read all about it in this week's column. For step-by-step photographs of the process, click here.

There's A Mad Tea Party taking place and everyone's invited. Of course since we're all foodies, we have to bring food to the party but here's the thing, we all have to bring a particular dish, batata vada, in these parts we call it potato balls. Our party host, Anita, describes the batata vada as "batter fried spiced mashed potato balls..." and indeed that is what it is. There are however, many versions of this snack and that is what is making this party to exciting. I'm looking forward to the many variations that will be offered up.

Potato balls are sold as a snack particularly in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. T & T also make a snack called Aloo Pie, the spiced mashed potato is encased in a dough and fried. At school, we used to buy and eat loads of potato balls and you had to get to the snack lady as soon as the bell rang, if not, well, you know my story about that already. Back then also, vendors would be lined outside the cinemas, their glass cases packed with goodies to be purchased on the way to see a movie. Phulourie, channa, potato balls, cassava balls, egg balls, mitai, you name it and they had it in their cases.

I'm serving my potato balls with an array of condiments for you to choose from: achar, sour, mango chutney and pepper sauce.